Curing Anger Now
by italianmagician
Summary: Jade is angry at everything, and makes Dave come to her house. She thinks she'll start a fight, but... Maybe not. A bit shippy.


So maybe Jade had a little anger problem, or some management issues. Or maybe it was all because she'd never had anyone to tell her that the way to get over being aggravated was not throwing stuff and hitting and breaking probaly valuable objects.

But hey, what else does one do on a whole island by yourself when you're mad? You talk to someone on a certain chat server. Of course, with little miss Harley's luck, things just didn't work that way. So she found herself in need of a screaming match or some kind of argument or fight, and let's face it- there just wasn't anything left on the island worth getting in a fight with.

Who better to fight with than someone who could get around if he so pleased with his fancy-shmancy hand-me-down appearifyer? Dave Strider, of course, dorky as he was.

So with her nice little glasses, she threw around a few priceless pumpkins, all the while pestering one Dave Strider.

Oh, she had a flute she'd been considering throwing to the ground in disgusted frustration for a while, now. Now would be a great time to do so. Bumping it out of her captchalogue, she proceeded to do so, watching with angry satisfaction as several keys broke off and the end head joint bent on the stairs as it skidded away. They'd make great javelins, flutes.

But no matter. Conversation was under way.

—gardenGnostic [GG] started pestering turntechGodhead [TG] at 20:36—

GG: dave!  
TG: that might be me  
GG: none of that stuff today please i am so not in the mood for that  
TG: woah jade  
TG: whats wrong  
GG: can you use your appearifyer zappy thingy to come out here  
GG: need someone to talk to

—

Dave certainly could use his appearifyer zappy thingy to go to Jade's house, but he frowned, rather uncool compared to his normal, chill cool-guy look. Jade rarely actually wanted someone to go to her house, usually it was them inviting her out here to the mainland. Something must be really wrong.

—

TG: sure thing but whats wrong  
GG: i'll explain if you come out here  
TG: give me a few minutes gotta get something all set up  
TG: should i bring something  
TG: apple juice  
TG: toaster streudel  
TG: maybe a deck of cards  
GG: no, just leave the sarcasm behind for a while it won't kill you i promise!

—gardenGnostic [GG] ceased pestering turntechGodhead [TG] at 20:44—

Jane hadn't ceased her throwing around of objects, and maybe she'd blocked a little portal-thingy or two, but she knew he could still get here. A bright green flash lit the base in the center of the floor, and Dave was there.

Wow, a rather polished-up Dave, too, not just in his usual jeans and long-sleeve shirt and shades, but a button-down white shirt and slacks. Suddenly she wondered if he'd had a date. Oh, now she almost felt bad.

How long since either of them had strifed? She certainly hadn't since Sburb, and then Dave's bro had died in Sburb so he couldn't have.

So Jade lunged at him the second he stepped off the base, an angry cry sounding from her lips. "Woah shit!" Dave yelped, grabbing her balled-up fist as she got nearly an inch from his face. "Jade, what the hell?" Oh, she was strong aaannd she had two fists too, dumbass.

The girl's other fist met Dave's cheek, then she instantly felt sorry, never really one to hurt an actual person as he stumbled back. "Oh my gosh Dave I'm so sorry!" she gasped, relaxing her hand and grabbing his arm. "I don't know what got into me!" The Texan just shook his head, rolling his jaw, then his neck.

"Holy shit, I didn't know you pack that much of a punch," he muttered, straightening up. "Now explain what the hell that was." The boy (no, he was a man now, he'd argue) loosened his grip on her other hand, albeit cautiously. "C'mon, Jade," he said, lowering the volume of his voice. It wasn't his fault he yelled actually quite a bit when he actually talked. Just a habit, was all.

And here she was, embarrassed by the trashed state of her house and the fact that she'd not even really thought before attacking him. What kind of impulse was that? Maybe it was because almost all the lights were out aside from the fire and the base was right where her grandfather used to stand.

Used to stand. Of course. And she'd get in a fight with the stuffed man. That really was kind of creepy.

The pair stood there for a minute or two, Dave just watching her expression. "Jade…?" he repeated when she didn't reply. "C'mon, what's up?" Her green eyes flicked up to his as she bit her lip.

"I'm mad," she said quietly, shifting a bit. "I'm really, really mad." A huff passed from Harley's lips, and she turned away, folding her arms across her chest. "Like, really mad."

Dave couldn't help but chuckle. It was really kind of cute, her actions showing that she didn't really want to tell or something along those lines. But he was smarter than angering and laughing at an already-angry woman, so he dropped the small smile and the laugh faded, his hand going to her shoulder. "So you need to talk, yeah?"

"Yeah." She stepped a little closer. "Talk, uh-huh."

"Let's start with why you're mad, huh?"

This was the point where Jade got a little sheepish. "I don't know why I'm mad. I forgot."

Oh, so that was how it was. Dave nodded understandingly. "Well that's a slight problem." He glanced up, pushing his shades from his face. What good did they do here, with the room so dark anyhow? He couldn't hardly see with them off, either, but it was better than before. Was that a couch? Looked like it. "Let's sit down, hm? Then we can try and figure out what pissed you off to the point of attacking some poor innocent asshole who happened to wander in."

Jade nodded, going to the couch and plopping down, completely used to the near-dark aside from the fireplace. "Sorry, Dave," she mumbled, curling up a bit compared to his relaxed sprawl across the couch, both arms at the back of the couch and his abnormally red eyes watching her. "Nah, it's okay. Strife, yanno?" He allowed a soft smile before erasing his emotion again. "So what's up for real, buttercup?"

"I said I don't know." The raven-haired girl pouted a bit. "I'm just mad. I don't like it, it's… Weird, to me." She really didn't get this angry often, just frustrated with Bec or when her plants didn't grow or when she couldn't remember something or when she couldn't play her eclectic bass right or—

Okay. She got mad a lot.

"Well, c'mere," the Texan drawled, beckoning her closer. "Sounds to me like a hug is a great start." The pair stared each other down for a moment, then Jade giggled softly, moving closer to him as one of his arms slid from the back of the couch to around her shoulders. "So how mad are you?"

Jade just cuddled even closer, taking the oppurtunity to wrap her arms around him as well. A hug from a coolkid. How cool. See, moments like this were the best, to her. Sometimes she didn't want to talk. Maybe anger could be cured with a hug in near-pitch blackness. "I'm not as bad as I was a few minutes ago," she confessed, "but thanks for coming anyways." He hummed, just a musical 'no problem'.

Yes, Dave liked this kind of thing, too. Maybe he had feelings but maybe not at the same time. Hugs didn't have to be of a romantic relation, as most of people their age seemed to think. Idly, he ran his fingers through her hair, blinking as her head butted against his shoulder and she cuddled even closer, closing her eyes. It seemed like cuddling was just a good plan to both of them, and he smiled. "Yeah, I don't have a problem with it." His voice was even quieter, now. "I brought my iPod. Want to listen?" He knew she liked getting the sick beats he would send her, a long time ago. "I promise they're the shit." He grinned.

His bright smirk was returned with a great smile. "Sure! Are they the same kind of thing you used to send me?" He shook his head. "Some of them, though?" she asked, watching his hand slide to his pocket. Did slacks come with pockets? She didn't even notice him nod.

Scrolling through the endless list of song names and artists, most of them by some guy named turntech godhead, whoever that might be (She giggled to herself. What a big ego he had in his music!) Dave selected one playlist, too quick for her to catch the name before he'd selected another song, with a low humming bass. "Hope you like them. They're a bit different." He put down the player facedown on his knee, grabbing a pillow from the other side of the couch and pulling it behind him so he could half lay down with her on top as she followed.

That was a lot of things different about Dave, Jade had to notice. Fancy shirt and pants, and his Converse had been replaced with better, cleaner shoes, too. How crazy. His hair was combed back, and was that a watch on his wrist, too? "Hey, Dave?" A quiet hum. "Were you going to do something, that I made you not do?" The girl bit her lip. "'Cause if I did, I'm sorry…" No, she wasn't, really.

His eyes opened, having closed them as he slumped to the side. "Well, yeah. Had a date." Dave shrugged. "Nothing big." Jade gasped, sitting up.

"Dave, what? Why didn't you go on your date?" Now she felt absolutely awful. "You should go, you can still make it, right?" Dave made a face. "Aww, no need to be like that. I said it wasn't anything big. You're more important than some girl who dresses like she wants to get laid all the time. Don't even know why I said yes." Jade shifted a little bit, expression worried. "Chill out, sugar pie. You're a lot more important." He let it go at that, and reluctantly, Jade went back to cuddling him, watching the fire.

"Am I really more important?"

"You bet."


End file.
